Steel Products

Highlights of SMU Steel Summit Conference Monday Schedule
Written by John Packard
August 23, 2020
First, the link to the SMU Steel Summit Virtual Conference platform is www.smusteelsummit2020.com
From there you enter your email address and the password which was sent to you. If you have not yet registered for the conference please click here or go to www.smusteelsummit.com
Here is what you can expect to happen on Monday, Aug. 24. There will be people available live on the site to assist you (green button in bottom right hand corner of the platform). They will be there from 9 AM until 5 PM Eastern Time. The platform itself is already “live” and open to registered attendees. There will be housekeeping notes running at 8:30 AM and the first “pre-Summit” program will begin at 9:00 AM ET. All program segments are run in the auditorium. The exact timing for each program segment can be found on the ”Upcoming Sessions” box on the bottom left side of your screen when you are signed into the platform and are in the lobby area. You can also see the various program segments in the Auditorium where you can save those sessions you want to have on your office Outlook or similar calendar.
Just like a TV, once you click on a session and begin playing it each session after will automatically play as well.
Monday’s Highlights:
Here are some highlights for the opening day of this our first virtual steel conference.
Pre-Summit Program: Steel 101 Introduction and presentation with Roger Walburn, Metallurgist/Sales for NLMK USA and SMU Steel 101 instructor.
Pre-Summit Program: Impact Stimulus Spending Will Have Long Term for USA with Dr. Alan Beaulieu. This is a short, 15-minute wet your appetite session. Dr. Beaulieu will have a more detailed program on Tuesday along with Q&A.
Conference Opening: John Packard, President & CEO of Steel Market Update, welcomes everyone to our unusual conference, in an unusual way, in this an unusual year.
One-on-One with Maximo Vedoya: John Packard interviews Ternium CEO Maximo Vedoya.
International View of Steel Industry: Jose Gasca of Metrading International and John Johnson, CRU CEO for China, discuss Turkey, Middle East, China and Asia markets.
Economic Forecast: CRU Economists and Analysts from Around the World explore Chinese and U.S. economies in the future and what that implies for future steel demand. They will provide steel demand scenarios with an analysis of both downside and upside risks. There will be Q&A after this session.
Keynote Address: Lourenco Goncalves, Chairman, President & CEO of Cleveland-Cliffs/AK Steel – note there will be an extended period of time set aside for Questions & Answers.
Steel Buyers Panel: Three dissimilar steel companies (two manufacturers and one service center) discuss buying strategies, the pandemic and how to manage volatility. There will be Q&A after this panel.
Industry Polling: Always a surprise, we will take just a few minutes to poll our attendees on trade, demand, future steel prices and the presidential election. In 2016 our attendees correctly predicted a Trump presidential win. The poll will only be available during this segment, and we will report the results during the Tuesday morning opening (although the results will be shown real-time to those taking the poll on Monday).
Trade Panel: Just over the past couple of weeks, the Trump Administration has made moves that will/could impact steel and aluminum trade. Phil Bell of the SMA and trade attorney Lewis Leibowitz discuss a few issues before leaving it open for Q&A.
Virtual Cocktail Party and SPEED NETWORKING: We guarantee this is something you have never done before. We will gather everyone into a Zoom “lobby” and then after addressing the gathering for a couple of minutes we will move you randomly into 50 separate Zoom meeting rooms. TURN ON YOUR CAMERA as you will be “face to face” with attendees you do not know (but are about to meet). Optional: Use the materials received in your welcome box to conduct a virtual cocktail party. A special thank you to Heidtman Steel for sponsoring this “out of the box” event.
The platform will remain open so you can view program segments you may have missed (or watch them again). You will also be able to network with others on the platform (or reach out via email to those you would like to speak to in the coming days). A green dot next to their picture means they are on the platform, and there will be a note advising where on the platform they are at that time.
A cool part of the networking process is your ability to schedule appointments. Once an appointment is scheduled (with up to 25 people at one time) you can save that to your Outlook calendar at work, and it will be saved to your master schedule in the lobby of the platform.
If you have questions, you can email them to Events@SteelMarketUpdate.com
If you would like to register, please click here or go to www.smusteelsummit.com
End of Day One

John Packard
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